F1: Bahrain GP Practice Times

[Rory Phoulorie]

Prac One: Kimi reigns supreme

Friday 13th April 2007

Kimi Raikkonen reigned supreme in the Kingdom of Bahrain on Friday morning, where he dominated the first of the day's two practices.

The Ferrari driver clocked a 1:33.162 around the 5.412km track to beat his team-mate Felipe Massa to the P1 slot by 0.517 seconds. Lewis Hamilton was third, followed by Fernando Alonso.

The session began slowly with Jarno Trulli the first to take to the track. However, after an installation lap the Toyota driver, and those who joined him out on track, returned to their respective garages.

The action resumed a short while later with Nick Heidfeld the first to set a complete lap time. But the BMW driver was soon beaten by Trulli as the lap times began to fall.

Meanwhile Scott Speed was in the wars as he went straight on at the corner at Turn Ten and had to gather it up over the run-off area. The Toro Rosso driver was at it again moments later when he ran over the kerb at the final corner.

Speed, though, wasn't the only one battling to keep it on the track. Giancarlo Fisichella also had his problems as he understeered off and onto the asphalt run-off.

Tonio Liuzzi and Nico Rosberg also experienced similar problems at the final corner, putting all four wheels off the track.

Back at the front of the field, Kimi Raikkonen slotted his Ferrari into the P1 slot when he beat Trulli's time by more than a second and a half.

Lewis Hamilton slid into second place, however, at the halfway point of the session was 1.4 seconds behind Raikkonen, while Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa had yet to set a single lap time.

Trulli, Ralf Schumacher, Fisichella and Heidfeld completed the top six.

Two-thirds of the way through Practice One, Massa made his way out onto the track and while his team-mate ran wide at the final corner, the Ferrari driver put his F2007 up into second place behind Raikkonen.

Adrian Sutil joined Raikkonen on the list of those to go off the track at the final corner, while Jarno Trulli saved his rallying for Turn One.

With the track temperature reaching 45`C, Massa continued to push hard while Alonso joined the fry, slotting his McLaren in behind the two Ferraris and ahead of Hamilton.

However, it didn't take Alonso long to join the list of those going off. The Spaniard went off at Turn Ten and had to slam on the brakes and spin his McLaren round to face the right way.

Moments later he was off again. This time he slid through the middle of the corner and went off on the exit.

Alex Wurz followed suit, spinning at the exit of Turn Eight.

Drivers continued to push through the final ten minutes of the session, resulting in a massive slide from Massa as he tried to top his team-mate's time.

But in the end it was Raikkonen who ruled in Bahrain, while Massa finished second ahead of the McLarens of Hamilton and Alonso. Hamilton's final lap of Practice One saw him gain a 0.051s advantage over his team-mate.

Trulli finished in fifth place, less than two-tenths of a second ahead of Nick Heidfeld, while Robert Kubica claimed seventh place. A late charge from Tonio Liuzzi saw the Toro Rosso driver finish in surprising P8.


Time
01 K. R�ikk�nen Ferrari 1:33.162 21 laps
02 F. Massa Ferrari 1:33.679 17 laps
03 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:34.110 17 laps
04 F. Alonso McLaren 1:34.161 15 laps
05 J. Trulli Toyota 1:34.896 26 laps
06 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:35.076 30 laps
07 R. Kubica BMW 1:35.248 24 laps
08 V. Liuzzi Toro Rosso 1:35.292 23 laps
09 N. Rosberg Williams 1:35.375 19 laps
10 A. Wurz Williams 1:35.398 20 laps
11 J. Button Honda 1:35.445 24 laps
12 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:35.474 21 laps
13 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:35.573 24 laps
14 G. Fisichella Renault 1:35.697 17 laps
15 S. Speed Toro Rosso 1:35.726 22 laps
16 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:35.856 15 laps
17 R. Barrichello Honda 1:35.911 20 laps
18 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:36.243 6 laps
19 M. Webber Red Bull 1:36.483 18 laps
20 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:36.513 7 laps
21 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:37.084 27 laps
22 C. Albers Spyker F1 1:38.258 29 laps

http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3213_2057279,00.html

[Rory Phoulorie]

Prac Two: It`s another Kimi show

Friday 13th April 2007

Kimi Raikkonen continued to lead the way in Bahrain, clocking the fastest time in Practice Two.

The Ferrari driver, who set the pace in the day's opening session, continued his run of form to take the P1 slot on Friday afternoon ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Robert Kubica was third quickest.

Robert Kubica was the first driver out on track, soon followed by his team-mate, Nick Heidfeld, the Renaults, Super Aguris, Toro Rossos and Spykers.

Heidfeld went on to set the first timed lap of the session but was quickly surpassed by the Toro Rosso of Tonio Liuzzi, who finished the first practice session in a fantastic eighth place.

With track temperature reaching a sweltering 47`C, it didn't take long for the drivers to start setting quick times and just 10 minutes into the session Fernando Alonso clocked a 1:34.211 to take the P1 slot.

His team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, slotted in behind him, just 0.202s off the pace.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen also joined the action, however, he failed to shoot to the top of the timesheets as a slight off at Turn Ten ruined his first timed lap.

A good start to the session for Renault saw Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella slot into third and fourth places ahead of Kubica and Liuzzi.

Meanwhile Webber was having a terrible time trying to stay on the track. Just moments after moving up into the top-six, the Red Bull driver went straight on at Turn Ten and needed a huge amount of run-off area to turn his car around.

Christijan Albers also found himself in a bit of trouble when he got it wrong at the final corner. And although the Spyker driver slid his car into the gravel he was able to get back onto the track.

Just before the halfway point Ferrari came to the fore with Felipe Massa stealing the P1 slot from Alonso by 0.168 seconds, sparking the start of an intense battle that would rage for the remaining 45 minutes.

Hamilton, Kovalainen, Raikkonen, Fisichella, Webber and Liuzzi completed the top eight at the halfway stage.

A vast improvement from Williams saw Nico Rosberg leap up to second place, while Alex Wurz set the seventh best time.

Problems for Jarno Trulli and Liuzzi. Trulli spun his Toyota on the exit of Turn Five, while Liuzzi went off the final corner. Both drivers, though, were able to get back on track and continue lapping.

With 35 minutes left on the clock, Alonso jumped back into the lead with a 1:33.784, 0.259 seconds quicker than Massa's best, while Heidfeld advanced to third place.

Raikkonen soon relegated Massa and Heidfeld as he popped up into second place behind Alonso, while Lewis Hamilton put his McLaren up into sixth place.

There was bad news for Honda as Jenson Button stops his car on the exit of Turn Two with his engine on fire. And moments later Massa took a spin on Button's oil and narrowly avoided hitting the barrier.

The yellow flags were brought out as marshals moved Button's car to safety.

With the flags put away the action was back to full speed with Alex Wurz taking third place behind Raikkonen, while his team-mate, Rosberg, has a small off at Turn One.

Hamilton put in a flyer to take the top spot away from his team-mate: a 1:33.540 for the 22-year-old rookie. Kubica also leapt up the order, taking second place off Alonso.

But both drivers lost out to Kimi Raikkonen, although only just. The Ferrari driver puts in a new fastest lap time to lead Hamilton by 0.013 seconds.

Kubica finished in third place ahead of Massa and Alonso, while Wurz, Heidfeld and Rosberg completed the top eight.


Times
01 K. R�ikk�nen Ferrari 1:33.527 33
02 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:33.540 33
03 R. Kubica BMW 1:33.732 37
04 F. Massa Ferrari 1:33.772 28
05 F. Alonso McLaren 1:33.784 30
06 A. Wurz Williams 1:33.973 26
07 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:34.076 34
08 N. Rosberg Williams 1:34.189 34
09 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:34.359 32
10 J. Trulli Toyota 1:34.366 33
11 R. Barrichello Honda 1:34.391 28
12 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:34.585 33
13 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:34.595 29
14 M. Webber Red Bull 1:34.677 24
15 G. Fisichella Renault 1:34.796 34
16 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:35.001 35
17 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:35.268 38
18 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:35.427 29
19 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:35.582 31
20 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:35.687 34
21 C. Albers Spyker F1 1:35.835 30
22 J. Button Honda 1:36.079 19


http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3213_2057813,00.html